Pocket PC 2000

Microsoft long knew of the importance and potential of mobile computers, and in the 1990s had made previous attempts to capture the market. It released in 1993 Windows for Pen Computing, a software used to add pen computing functions to mobile computers running Windows 3.1. The software's potential for success was hampered by its ponderous base code and the fact that handwriting recognition technology at the time had practical limitations. Microsoft then sought to develop a device called WinPad, which would have been used to wirelessly access and synchronize data between it and desktop machines, as well as other WinPads, but its operating system's large consumption of resources caused the company to redesign as Microsoft at Work, an embedded operating system for office machines, with similar synchronization functions. However, its delayed, costly development and device manufacturers subsequently abandoning it led to the project's cancellation. During that time, Microsoft also began work on a project to develop a device used to communicate with paging systems, and its operating system was to be used in set-top boxes, but that project proved to be too ambitious and thus folded in 1995.{{cite thesis|url=https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/37110/85480667-MIT.pdf|title=How open should an open system be? Essays on Mobile Computing|last=Boudreau|first=Kevin J.|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|date=June 2006|access-date=September 23, 2021|pages=59–64|hdl=1721.1/37110}}

The teams of the two cancelled projects were consolidated in 1995, and Microsoft hoped to create a mobile device that ran on the Windows NT kernel. It decided to use its new kernel, Windows CE, after realizing that Windows NT was too bulky to fit on a device. This kernel debuted in Microsoft's "Handheld PC", and reappeared in the company's Palm-size PC,{{Sfn|McPherson|2000|p=10}} both of which were criticized for their slow performance, short battery life, and graphical user interface. With these devices, Microsoft had only ten percent of the personal digital assistant (PDA) market share, whereas its rival, Palm, Inc., had over half of it.

Microsoft reapproached Windows CE's design in the development of its third PDA, then codenamed "Rapier". Its desktop user interface was replaced with one more suited for mobile devices, more applications came preinstalled, and the company more firmly defined and extended both the hardware and software specifications to ensure software compatibility. Windows CE 3.0 became the operating system for Microsoft's next PDA and the first member of the Windows Mobile family, Pocket PC, and it was launched on April 19, 2000.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnews.cz/os-windows-mobilephone-strma-cesta-historii/|title=OS Windows Mobile/Phone: strmá cesta historií|language=Czech|trans-title=OS Windows Mobile/Phone: a steep journey through history|last=Smrček|first=Jakub|work=CNews.cz|date=March 31, 2011|access-date=September 23, 2021}} A Japanese-language edition of Pocket PC was released in Japan on July 13.{{cite web|url=https://atmarkit.itmedia.co.jp/news/200007/14/pocketpc.html|title=マイクロソフトがPocket PC日本語版を発表|language=Japanese|trans-title=Microsoft announces Japanese edition of Pocket PC|work=ITmedia|date=July 14, 2000|access-date=September 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929092922/https://atmarkit.itmedia.co.jp/news/200007/14/pocketpc.html|archive-date=September 29, 2021|url-status=live}} To distinguish it from its successors, the operating system is referred to as Pocket PC 2000.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/howtodoeverythin00mcph|title=How to Do Everything with Your Pocket PC|edition=Third|last=McPherson|first=Frank|publisher=Osborne/McGraw-Hill|date=2003|access-date=September 23, 2021|page=11|isbn=0-07-222979-9}}

Built on the Windows CE 3.0 kernel, the user interface was designed from the ground up to more closely resemble Palm OS's and much less that of a personal computer, while still retaining the look and feel of Windows desktops. The first screen that is displayed upon booting is the Today screen, where the user can check their email inbox and view the calendar and their scheduled appointments and tasks, as well as the device's owner information.{{Sfn|McPherson|2000|pp=20, 524–525}} The top of the screen is filled by a navigation bar, which on the left side contains a button that opens the Start menu and on the right the current time. On the bottom of the screen is a "command bar", containing menus and buttons that execute commands for programs.{{Sfn|McPherson|2000|pp=42–45}} The user navigates the interface by tapping the stylus and pressing the buttons on the device.{{Sfn|McPherson|2000|pp=21–24}} New to Microsoft's line of PDAs is tapping and holding on items to open context menus, analogous to right-clicking on a desktop computer.{{Sfn|McPherson|2000|p=46}}

When the Start button is tapped, the Start menu drops down, revealing a bar of six last-run applications, a number of pinned applications, the menus where the applications and system settings are located, the ability to search files' names and contents, and an online application that provides help relevant to the current program.{{Sfn|McPherson|2000|pp=41–45, 50}} Files are managed using the File Explorer. They may be placed inside folders, and are all found inside the root folder, My Device.{{Sfn|McPherson|2000|pp=47–49}} Character input is provided via either an online character or handwriting recognition system or an on-screen keyboard.{{Sfn|McPherson|2000|pp=32–42}}

Pocket PC 2000 is bundled with a pocket version of Microsoft Office, an office suite that features pocket versions of Excel and Word.{{Sfn|McPherson|2000|p=16}} Also included is a pocket version of the web browser Internet Explorer, based on version 3.1. Features of version 3.1 not supported by Pocket Internet Explorer are Java applets; VBScript; and the HTML tags {{code|lang=html|code=}}, {{code|lang=html|code=}}, {{code|lang=html|code=}}, {{code|lang=html|code=}}, {{code|lang=html|code=}}, {{code|lang=html|code=